Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: News

Amie Shahan, owner of Color Me Red salon, cleans a tanning bed Tuesday afternoon. Sufferers of seasonal depression often lie in tanning beds because the UV light mimics sunlight.

In Kirksville the weather is snowy and cloudy, rainy and icy. The low temperatures and bitter wind chills might make days miserable for some, but they are not alone.

This winter weather might have an effect on students' mental health and cause what is known as seasonal affective disorder.

Sophomore Katy Ward said she discovered one way to cure her winter gloom.

"My roommate and I had been talking, and we both kind of had a case of the winter blahs, so we thought something like eight minutes in the warm tanning bed would simulate sunlight and would cheer us up," Ward said.

Although this was Ward's first time tanning, she said she noticed some improvement in her mood.

"Not long-term, but for a few days after it was kind of pleasant because it felt like I'd gotten some sun," Ward said. "It was kind of like being outside."

Students at the University might be more susceptible to seasonal depression than in other areas of the country because of Kirksville's location in northern Missouri. According to the 2007 National College Health Assessment, 14.6 percent of college students said they experienced some form of seasonal depression.

Brian Krylowicz, director of University Counseling Services, said seasonal depression is something students should be aware of, especially in the colder months.

"It's typically represented when someone does not usually have depressive symptoms except during the winter," Krylowicz said. "In the winter people get cabin fever, more or less. They just don't do the same activities. They're not as engaged in things outside of themselves. The world becomes smaller during the winter."

Krylowicz said he thinks the removal of sunlight has a role in this type of depression during the winter and that tanning might help students mentally.

"If someone believes tanning will help them, then tanning will help them," Krylowicz said. "The mind's a funny thing."

Phyllis Moore, owner of the local salon Sunspot Tanning, said she thinks tanning might help boost people's moods during the long winter months.

Continued...

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